2006 Press Releases

Healthy Life® Pediatric Weight Management Program Reports Success Based on First Year Completion Statistics

Livingston, N.J. -- Healthy LIFE® Pediatric Weight Management Program, a unique, 24-week group treatment for overweight youths and their families at the Pediatric Specialty Center (Saint Barnabas Ambulatory Care Center), has just released successful statistics based on its first year of enrollment.

Overall the program has achieved a high retention rate (76 percent), high program satisfaction as reported by the participants and their parents, and significant reductions in body fat and waist and hip measurements. Over 97 percent of the young participants reported reductions in clothing sizes as a result of the program.

"In addition to losing weight and learning to make healthier eating choices, participants also reported significant growth in body self confidence and overall self-confidence," says Henry Anhalt, D.O., F.A.A.P, Director of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and co-director of Healthy LIFE®. "We are very pleased, and plan to continue evaluating our program outcomes at 12, 24, 36 months and beyond."

Other significant findings from first year enrollment:

• 88 percent reported, "Yes, our most important goals have been met."
• 100 percent gave evidence of improved stamina, energy, speed, or athletic ability such as:
  • Running a mile without getting out of breath
  • Winning a swim meet
  • Improving on the Presidential Fitness Test
  • Completing difficult "spinning" exercise class
  • Walking or running up the stairs easily every day
• Most participants said they would be "very likely" to recommend the program to a friend.

The 45 participants, with ages 5-17 years old, began enrollment in August 2005. Five groups (7-12 families each) completed the full program through Aug 2006. At the beginning of the program, the 25 females and 20 males had a baseline Body Mass Index or BMI (a weight for height measure) greater than the 99th percentile and a body fat measurement in the range of 30-48 percent. After completing the program, participants had a 10 percent reduction in baseline fat weight and lost an average of 4.5 pounds of body fat.

"Many families genuinely want to be healthy, but they often need help actually making healthy eating and activity a part of their everyday lives," says Debra Gill, Ph.D., Behavioral Director. "Through our program, parents and children learn important skills and work together to create a lasting healthy lifestyle."

More About Healthy LIFE®

Healthy LIFE® Pediatric Weight Management program provides a blame-free, supportive environment for overweight children and their families to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Healthy LIFE® is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary program that teaches children, teens and their families how to live in a healthy way.

Dr. Anhalt, nationally-known expert in pediatric obesity, co-directs Healthy LIFE® with Dr. Gill, who was the former behavioral director of the weight-management clinic at the world-renowned Cooper Institute in Texas.

Call the Healthy LIFE® coordinator at (973) 322-7496 to register for the next FREE Parent information session, or to request additional information about groups forming right now.

Date: October 25, 2006

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